Corvette Redesign In Global Hands?

2010 Chevy Corvette

I love to use the word “iconic” when I describe the Ford Mustang, America’s enduring pony car. For nearly a half century, this particular steed has filled a need in the heart of many sport coupe enthusiasts.

Though the Mustang has certainly earned its place in the halls of American autodom, I would give the hot car nod to the Chevrolet Corvette, a true sportscar by every definition. Importantly, the Corvette has a longer product run with the first model rolling out in 1953 well before the muscle car era got its start.

Corvette Appeal

The Corvette’s appeal in America is well known, but less so in markets around the world. Sure, the Corvette is available overseas including in Europe, but it has a miniscule following as it must go up against some of the finest sports cars in the world. Like Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati and Lotus to name just a few. That has put the Corvette at a distinct disadvantage, one that GM management hopes to erase by inviting global designers to participate in the Corvette redesign process.

Yes, the next generation of America’s sports car may still be built in Bowling Green, Kentucky but its design may be hatched in a design studio in Germany, Japan or elsewhere. Sounds almost sacrilegious doesn’t it?

New Design

Well, yes and no. GM knows that the key to the Corvette’s enduring success is to attract younger buyers. Unfortunately, the Corvette comes across more like your granddaddy’s sports car, one that today’s up and coming buyers are not identifying with. That’s not good news for any car line as you must keep that attraction strong from generation to generation. Today’s Corvette, though fast and stylish, is not as refined as a Porsche. GM isn’t giving buyers any reason to consider Corvette at least in its current iteration.

In the Mar. 8, 2010 issue of “Autoweek,” GM’s VP of global design Ed Welburn noted that the Corvette’s redesign was opened up to ten design studios around the world in 2009. With those designs now in hand, GM appears pleased with what they have received although a final design has yet to be chosen.

The current Corvette is criticized for looking too big and for having a cheap interior. Just under 14,000 Corvettes were sold in 2009, a drop of 48 percent from the year before. A new model is about two to three years out, but expect that the new design will be settled this year in order to stay on target.

Real Corvette

Changing the Corvette will be a delicate act, one that can take the model into a different direction completely which raises an important point—will the next generation Corvette no longer be a Corvette? Let’s hope so because this “iconic” model deserves to be given the chance to not only survive, but thrive.

Photo Credit: GM Corp.

GMC Terrain Proves Badge Engineering Is Alive And Well

All new for 2010, the GMC Terrain is a twin to the Chevy Equinox. The newest GMC model, available in front and all wheel drive, will be in showrooms this September.

General Motors (GM) is in for the fight of its life, working diligently to restructure in the midst of bankruptcy by overhauling the way that it does business. One thing that won’t be changing all that much is the automaker’s predilection for badge engineering, the sort of practice whereby a company creates a model for one brand and then rolls it out in some other form for one or more other brands.

Copying The Chevy Equinox

The most recent example of this practice is the Chevrolet Equinox which will share its body with the GMC Terrain, the latter expected to go on sale this September. But that shouldn’t be surprising because mostly everything sporting a GMC insignia is also sold as a Chevrolet, with trim level differentiations and external badging offering the other distinctions between the two.

GM has priced the GMC Terrain from $24,995 for the front wheel drive model and $26,745 for the all wheel drive version, destination and freight charges included. For its thoughts about the Terrain GM says, “The Terrain allows us to build on the evolution we started with the Acadia, applying the distinctive styling and capabilities that have always been a part of the GMC DNA to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles that customers are seeking in today’s rapidly changing market,” said Susan Docherty, GM North America Vice President, Buick-Pontiac-GMC. “We think Terrain is a bold statement of GMC’s key role within the reinvented General Motors.”

Bold statement? Not hardly. A welcome change? Perhaps.

Walking Out The Company Talk

Ms. Docherty, who will be soon dropping the Pontiac portion of her job title, is clearly amplifying the company line. Not that she has much choice because GM is bent on standing with four brands – Cadillac, GMC, Buick and Chevrolet – while ditching four others – Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer (plus Opel) – which leaves GM with fewer models to work with. The Terrain might work for the simple reason that it won’t be aped by Buick, at least not yet and it does, as GM says, look awfully like the Acadia which is its larger brethren.

Chevrolet is GM’s largest selling brand by far with GMC a distant second. Third place belongs to Pontiac which means that newly-minted Buick-GMC dealerships will have sell more Buicks and GMC models to make up for Pontiac’s demise. Oh, just in case you were wondering, GM is in the process of testing a new compact Buick which will be based on the upcoming Chevy Cruze sedan.

Source: General Motors

See Also – Equinox Gas Mileage Should Encourage Cruze Faithful